Would anybody have an idea how much it would cost to move from the US to Zurich? Mainly moving kitchen stuff, wardrobe, books and some appliances for 2 people (roughly around 15-20 cartons). No point in moving furniture or cars I guess.
A 40 ft container (sea freight) runs between $12k and $14k. A 20 ft container is not much cheaper than that.
Air freight can be cheaper for smaller quantities. I shipped 24 boxes using Lufthansa and paid around $1,500 (IIRC). I dropped them off directly at the airport in the U.S. (DFW in my case) and picked them up at ZRH airport, took care of all customs work myself, so no handling fees applied. When you get a shipper / agent involved, prices go up a lot.
I moved to Switzerland from NYC over the summer, and shipped about the same amount of stuff as you are talking about for approx. $3000, door to door. The quote I got from the moving company was less than that, but there were some additional charges (container loading, port fee in amsterdam) that weren't covered by the quote. The company I used charged based on number of cubic feet. I shipped the minimum (200 cu ft). Have a look at the website movingscam.com before deciding on a company. It has a "black list" of companies to avoid. Before you decide which appliances to ship, keep in mind that the electric supply here is different (220V instead of 120V), so some of them might not work here, even with an adaptor. And expect at least 6-8 weeks between when your stuff is picked up in the US and when it's delived in Switz if you send it by sea.
Thanks very much for the reply. I did visit movingscams.com when I moved earlier and it is indeed quite helpful. Back then I used Graebel, not sure they do international though. Could you let me know the moving company that you used?
You had asked me in another post what moving company we used. It was Unitrans (very professional and also a very good service especially in Switzerland). I moved funiture, car, kayaks, clothes, kitchenware etc. all in one container (They had to put something between the car and the rest to keep things from falling on it) for just about 8000 USD, without the car it would have been much less, but I now have a car that cost me 1/2 of what it costs here... Call them up and ask.
Oh one more thing, my stuff they came and packed in Austin, the car I had to drop off in Houston (but I wanted to drive it as long as possible).
Sorry I gave you some wrong info, just found the paperwork, 9,084 USD for 4200 lbs of goods (plus my car). Company name SENTRY International (904-858-1200).
The Swiss partner was called Mòˆbel Transport AG and they were AAA.
I used IntlMove, which may not be the best company to go with.... they don't directly handle all parts of the move, but contract the work out to local moving companies on each end. I think the movingscams.com website lists 3 or 4 international movers that they recommend.
is your employer not relocating you? I'd suggest they move what you want at their cost - after all, you must be important given what you say the will be paying you
PS: Some (electrical) appliances can automatically handle or be manually switched between 110 V (USA) and 220 V (Europe), others require a 220 > 110 Volt transformer. Those along with some extension cords and power strips can be bought cheaply at Fry's prior to your move. You will need them.
Wow, I saw that site, movingscam.com, and I found both the broker that I paid and the local moving company that they hired to do the move on their Blacklist! I have to say that I wish I saw this site earlier, but all in all, the move went well and nothing bad happened luckly! The total cost of moving from California to Switzerland was about $5000 total for a 1 bedroom apartment with all bedroom, living room, dining room, and office furniture, kitchenware, clothes, snowboards, bicycles, etc...I only had one broken vase, which might have been my fault in not packing it better. We bought the insurance, which was over $700 but we didn't need it and probably shouldn't have bought it in the first place. So the actual move costs something like $4000 for 3300 lbs.
Not worth it for washers and dryers etc. - the US models use much too much electricity, so since you pay a good penny for that here, you are better off buying an efficient, sleek and quiet appliance here... But for small electronics this is mostly true, otherwise you can always buy a step-up converter.
Thanks for all the inputs, the information was very helpful. I did get a quote of $9000 approx for a 40ft container with door to door service (incl car). Let me see what some other companies quote.
Stephanwolf, I tried calling Meyers van Lines but seems their 1-800 numbers are not working anymore. Will give it a try again on Monday.
This thread is almost 2 years old, and had rates quoted from $9,000 to $14,000 USD for a 40' container. Anyone have more recent data? Also, what size household can fit in such a container? Would a three bedroom home (not over furnished) fit?